Looking at the violence, anger, and division in our world today, it is easy to see evil at work. At times, we may be overwhelmed by the evil we see around us. But rather than giving over to despair, we should remember the words of the Gospel: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Recently on St. Joseph’s Workshop, Fr. Matthew Spencer, OSJ was discussing the story of David and Goliath, and reflected on how this story can apply to our own battle with evil today. He said:
“Jesus, of course, is much bigger than evil. And while David triumphs over this seemingly impossible-to-beat enemy, there is no doubt in our minds that Jesus could defeat evil. There’s no doubt in our minds – because God is so much bigger than evil.
As we were talking about earlier, when there is evil in the world it seems so big and holds us in its grasp. But when Jesus comes into our life, we realize that evil has nothing on God. Evil has nothing over the power of Jesus.
This [story] isn’t just about a young man with a sling beating this well-armored, strong, tall, experienced warrior in battle. This is about spiritual battle itself. This is about the combat we face in the spiritual life.
Sometimes that’s how we feel. We feel small. We’re up against this incredible enemy that could overwhelm us without a second thought. And here we are without anything but a sling and a few smooth rocks.
And when you look at David, he didn’t have the battle experience that Goliath had. Instead, what he brought to the battle was his relationship with God. What he brought to the battle was the fact that he was anointed. He was anointed by God’s prophet, and that gave him the assurance and confidence to stand up, even to something that seemed insurmountable. David trusted in God’s saving power and work there.
You’ve been anointed too. You’ve been anointed in your baptism to be priest, prophet, and king. You have been anointed to go out into the world. Now, it doesn’t let you off the hook for practice and experience. It doesn’t mean you can just go into battle anywhere, and you don’t have to worry about it because you’re anointed. But you do need to trust in that anointing, in that confirmation that God gives to you of your sonship, your daughership with Him.
We have to recognize the power of Christ living within us. Because of our relationship with Him, because of the sacraments, because of the promise that Christ made to His apostles and right down to us.
Evil will not prevail over His Church. And therefore, you and I, when we are united with His Church – His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church – we can have confidence that we will overcome.”
Listen to the full reflection below:
St. Joseph’s Workshop with Fr. Matthew Spencer airs weekdays at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific on Relevant Radio®.
